Hinge



June 21, 1932. G. w. ALDEEN HINGE Filed Dec. '7, 1929 2 Shees-Sheeil June 21, 1932 G. W. ALDEEN 2 sheetsheei Filed Dec.1 7, 1929 Patented June 21, 1932 UNITED STATES GEIJOR W. ALLEEN, OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN CABINET HARD- f `la'ra-Nr oFFicl:

WARE CORP., OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION rOF ILLINOIS HINGE Appncation mea December 7, 192e.` serial mi.L 412,328.

This invention relates generally to a hinge for furniture and more particularly to a means for hinging a movable part to astationary part of an article of furniture, such as the porcelain-covered drop leaf of a kitchen table Vor the'like in which adjacent surfaces of the parts arel of such a. nature that to bring them into contact would mar them.

The general object of the invention is to provide a new and improved hinge for such parts which prevents adjacent surfaces of the parts from coming into contact during any part of the movement of the latter so l5 that the surfaces will not be marred. Y

A further object of the invention is to provide a new and improved hinge for such parts which permits adjacent surfaces of the parts to lie in close proximity, both in the begin- 29 ning and at the end of the movement, whereby a very small gap isleft between them and yet actual abutment is prevented.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a hinge which is adapted to be mounted directly on the under or back surfaces of the parts so that it is concealed, and whose parts may be made of sheet metal and are simple and inexpensive to construct.

In pursuance of the above objects, I aim to provide a hinge for a porcelainrovered drop leaf of a table or the likeV in whichtbe drop leaf is hinged to the stationary top of the table, the drop leaf and the stationary top each comprising a wood filler having porcelain-surfaced sheet metal mounted on the upper surface and edges thereof, said hinge comprising two bracket portions mounted on the under surfaces of the stationary top and drop leaf respectively and having longitudinal slots therein, and two lever portions pivotally attached to each other, each being pivoted to one of said bracket portions and sliding in the slot of the other bracket portion, said hinge preventing the adjacent edges of the stationary top and drop leaf from coming in contact during any part of the movement of the latter. f

OtherV objects and advantages of the invention will be understood from the follow- 5@ ing detailed description thereof, takenin connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a fragmental vertical section through a table showing the preferred form ofmy invention with the drop leaf in its raised position.

Figure 2 isa View similar' to that shown in Figure 1 except that the drop leaf-is lowered.

Figure 3 is a plan view looking up from below the hinge showing it in its raised position. v

Figure 4 is a fragmental vertical section through a table showing a modied form of the invention with the drop leaf in its raised position.

Figure 5 is a view similar to that shown in gigure 4 except that the drop leaf is lowere Y Figure 6 is a plan view looking up from below the modified form of the hinge showing it'in its raised positon.

While the invention is susceptible of various ymodifications and alternative constructions, I have shown in the drawings and will herein describe in detail the preferred embodiment, but it is to be understood that I do not thereby intend to limit the invention to the specific form disclosed, but intend to cover vall modifications and alternative :constructions falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appendedclaims. Y

In the drawings, a table is shown for which this hinge is suitable.` The table comprises a stationary top A and a drop leaf B, the adjacent edges of which are separated. This separation has been slightly exaggerated in the drawings for the sake of clarityin illus# tration. The top A, and likewise the drop leaf B, comprises a wood filler 11 having porcelain-surfaced sheet metal 12 mounted on the upper surface and edges thereof with the metal forming a fold 13 underneath the wood a short distance to'secureV it thereto. While itis `contemplated that two hinges will be -used `on each drop leaf, only one has been shown asthe other is exactly similar. When thesehinges are used on a table, such asis e described herein, thetable is also provided with a pair of supports (not shown) which are adapted to hold the drop lea-f in its raised or horizontal position.

The hinge illustrated herein comprises generally two bracket portions or members adapted to be secured to the top A andvdrop leaf B and two links or lever portions pivoted to each other, each of said links being pivotally attached to one of said bracket orti'ons yand slid'ably'attached to the other of said bracket portions, said hinge preventing the adjacent edges of the top A and the drop leaf B from coming in contact during movement of the latter and yet from leaving any gap therebetween of substantial size.

In the present instance, two bracket portions 14 and 14a are adapted to be secured to the under surfaces of the wood fillers of the top A and drop leaf B respectively beyond the fold 13 of the porcelain-surfaced sheet metal as by screws. Each bracket portion, 14 or 14a, comprises astrip of sheet metal bent in a right an le, one side of which lies against the wood ller and the otherY side of which has a longitudinal slot 15, or 15a, and an inwardly extendinglug .16, or 16a.

` As mentioned above, the invention includes two links pivoted to each other. In the present embodiment, the two links 2O and 2Oa are pivoted to each other at 21 intermediate their ends. Each link has one end pivotally attached at 22, or 22a, to the lug 16, or 16a, on one of the bracket portions and at the other end has a lug 23, or 23a, bent at a right angle to the link and sliding in the slot 15 of the other bracket portion. To hold the lug 23, or 23a, in the slot 15, or 15a, two ears extend from the lug transversely of the slot. The ends of the slots 15 and 15a'are so placed that the abutment of the lugs 23 and 23a against the ends limits the movement of the drop leaf B from a lowered 'position in which the drop leaf hangs substantially vertically down from'thetop A to a horizontal position level with the to In the operation of the hinge, the pivot 22 and the slot 15 remain in a xed position because they form a part of the member 14 fixed to the stationary top. The link 2Oa pivots around the pivot 22 and hence the pivot 21 moves in an arc whose center is the pivot'22. The link 2O is then constrainedto move in a path determined by the movement of the pivot 21 and the slot 15, the link 20 being translated horizontally because of the effect of the slot,rand pivoted about the lug '23 because of the pivot 21. The resultant effect of this movement of the link 20 is that the horizontal component of the movement of the pivot'22a is equal to the horizontal component of the movement of the pivot 21 and to the horizontal movement of the lug 23, while the vertical component of the movement of the pivot 22E1L bears the same ratio to the verticalcomponent of the movement of the pivot 21 as the ratio ofthe horizontal distance from the lug 23 to the pivots 22a and 21, respectively. Thus, the pivot 22a, which is rigid with the drop leaf, is moved horizontally and is given an exaggerated downward movement which causes the drop leaf to move away from the top during that part of its movement from a position shown in Figure 1 to the position it occupies when the pivot 21 is directly below the pivot 22. During the remainder of the movement of the hinge, pivot 21 is moved up to a position inthe same horizontal plane with its original position shown in Figure 1, and the pivot 22a is correspondingly moved up to the same extent that it was moved down in the first part of the movement. `Thus,frpivot' 22a lies in the same horizontal plane at vthe -end of its movement thatit did at the start of its movement, and its axis is coincident with the axis of the pivot 22.

The link .2Oa merely pivots about the pivot 22A and hence the lug 23a moves from the position horizontally alined with the pivot 22 to a position vertically alined with the pivot 22, the slot 15a having a similar pivotal movement although it may be translated relative tg the lug 23a by the movement of the pivot 2 a.

The position of the drop leaf at Yany time is determinedby the positions of the pivot 22a and the slot 15a. The movement of these two Ahaving been shown, it follows that, while the drop leaf is being lowered from the position shown in Figure 1` to the position shown in Figure 2, it is moved from a position in which the adjacent edges of the drop leaf and top are in close proximity but not in contact to a position in which the adjacent corners are in close proximity but not in contact and during such movement the drop leaf moves away from the top and back.

In Figures 4, 5 and 6 a modified form of the 'invention is shown which comprises, as in Vthe other form, two bracket portions and 30a and two lever portions or links 31 'and 31a. With this form of the hinge, the drop leaf is moved from a horizontal position level with the stationary top to a vertical position under the top and back from the front edge thereof, as shown in Figure 2, and

during the movement the adjacent surfaces Y The bracket portions are provided with slots 32 and,.32a which Vslant downwardly away from their adjacent ends, and have inwardly extending lugs 33 and 33a.

The two links 31 and 31afor the modied form comprise triangular pieces of sheet metal with their center portions cut away to lighten them without materially decreasing their strength. They are pivoted together at 34; at corresponding corners and have another corner pivotally attached at 35 and 35a to the lugs 33 and 33a, respectively. The third corners of the links are bent to form lugs 36 and 36a sliding in the slots 32 and 32a with ears extending transversely of the slots. The abutment of the lugs 36 and 36a against the ends of the slots 32 and 32a limits the movement of the drop leaf. l

In the operation of the modified form of hinge, the pivot 35 and the slot 32 remain stationary as they are a part of the member of the bracket portion 30 fixed to the top. rIhe link 31@ turns on the pivot 35 and hence the pivot 34 moves in an arc whose center is the pivot 35. Because of this fact, the link 31 is constrained to move in a path determined by the movement of the pivot 34. and the slot 32. The resultant eect of this movement is that the pivot 35a, which is a part of the link 31, is given a downward movement which causes the drop leaf to move away from the top during the first part of its movement, while the pivot 34 is moved down to its lowest point. During the remainder of the movement the pivot 35a is moved up and, because of the fact that the slot 32 is slanted downwardly and the lever 31 is thereby rocked about the pivot 34:, this movement is still more exaggerated. In this manner the pivot 35a is moved from a position separated from but in the same horizontal plane as the pivot 35 to a position in which the axis of the two pivots 35 and 35a' coincide.

The link 31 merely pivots about the pivot 35. As a result the lug 36a correspondingly pivots about the pivot 35, the slot 32a having a similar pivotal movement although it is translated relative to the lug 362 because of the movement of the pivot 35'".

The position of the drop leaf is determined at any time by the position of the pivot 35 and the slot 32a. The movement of these two having been shown, it follows that the drop leaf is lowered from the position shown in Figure 1, in which its edge is in close proximity to the edge of the top, to a position in which its edge is in close proximity to the under surface of the top. During this movement the drop leaf is moved away from the top a suiiicient distance to permit the edge of the drop leaf to clear the lower corner of the top and then is moved inward and upward so that it is in a vertical position with its edge in close proximity to the top between the bracket member and the edge of the top.

It is apparent from the above description that I have provided a new and improved ering on the edge of the parts to be connected i by the hinge, and a pair of links connecting said members, said links being pivoted to each other and each link being pivoted at one end to the extending end of one flange and having a projection slidable in the slot of the other iange. l l

2. A hinge as in claim 1, the extended end of said flanges being offset laterally to different planes, to lap each other when the hinge is folded, with both of the links located in the spaces between said ends.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature.

GEDOR W. ALDEEN. 

